This guide is aimed at users that want to manually create an Invoice for their PAT testing services in SimplyPats. Regardless of which type of PAT Tester you use (Downloading, or one without the ability to store Appliance Information and Test results), you may find this short guide helpful if you are planning to use SimplyPats to create your PAT Testing Invoices.

Before we go into any detail about Invoicing, there are a few things that you may want to know:

• If you want SimplyPats to automatically generate an invoice, you will need to enter Charge and Repair codes into the PAT tester at time of test.• Charge and Repair codes can be entered into SimplyPats by hand if needed. These can be applied to PAT Data downloaded from the tester or PAT Data that has been Manually Entered into the software (Referred to as manually creating an Invoice).• You DO NOT need to use Charge and Repair codes in order to generate an Invoice (Referred to as manually creating an Invoice).

This Guide will focus on the following;

Automatically Creating an Invoice using Charge and Repair codes entered into the PAT Tester at time of test. Manually Creating an Invoice by entering Charge and Repair Codes into the software by hand.Manually Creating an Invoice using Extra Charges.

What are Portable Appliance (PAT) Charge and repair Codes and do I need to use them to generate an invoice?

No, you do not need to use Charge and Repair codes to generate an invoice, however understanding the use of Charge and Repair codes themselves will be of benefit to those users that are able to enter the codes directly into the PAT Tester at time of test, or those that require more detailed information on their Invoices.

The Codes themselves are simply just a method of representing a long Charge or Repair description using one or two characters; For example the Charge Code P = Portable Appliance. Entering the letter P into the PAT Tester for every test is obviously far quicker than entering Portable Appliance.

Using Charge and Repair codes also allows you to create an invoice containing information relating to work carried out and any parts used.

If you do not use Charge and Repair codes, you will still be able to use SimplyPats to create an Invoice, more on this later.

Every Charge and Repair Code has a Price associated with it, and in the case of a Repair Code there may also be a Value (Quantity, Length or Measurement) option.

Where are the PAT Charge and Repair Codes displayed in SimplyPats?

SimplyPats was designed to give the user easy access to view and edit important data right from the Main Screen, which is why you will find the Charge and Repair information situated below the Test results area on the Right Hand side.

Adding or Editing Charge and Repair information for individual appliances can be achieved by using a set of drop down menus which are available when clicking on any of the Charge or Repair entries in the Charge and Repair section on the Right Hand side of the main screen. File wide or changes to multiple appliances can easily be performed using the Bulk Replace or Bulk Replace Selected features.

At this present time (Version 6.0.5) there is no way of adding Charge and Repair information directly into the Manual Entry screen when manually adding a new appliance or editing an existing appliance. If you are manually adding new appliances using the Manual Entry system, you will need to add Price and repair information from the Main Screen or via the Bulk Replace features.

Changing Portable Appliance Charge and Repair Descriptions and Prices

The Charge code maintenance window is accessible from the Maintenance > Maintain Test Prices entry on the file menu, while the Repairs can be accessed from the Maintenance > Maintain Repair Prices.

We have included 19 Charge Codes for you to use, 10 of which are pre-defined.

The Codes used are fixed and cannot be edited, however the Descriptions and Prices can be edited for all 19 codes, with the same options existing on the Maintain Repairs screen.

Automatic Invoicing when using a PAT Tester with memory capability

The Invoicing feature in SimplyPats was originally designed with Downloading PAT Testers in mind, however not all downloading PAT Testers have dedicated data fields for this type of information, which can sometimes cause confusion or mean that the user overlooks this great time saving feature.

On most Downloading PAT Testers, the Charge and Repair Codes can be entered into one of the Comment fields available after each PAT Test, however the number of available Comments Fields available on various PAT Testers varies between make and model.

If Charge and Repair codes have been recorded and stored at time of test, SimplyPats gives you the option to download and display this information in the Charge and Repair section on the main program screen. If used you will need to tell SimplyPats which Comment field you have used to store the Charge and Repair codes in, this is done on the Download PAT screen if your tester supports this feature.

As well as being used to automatically generate an invoice, these codes also give you a detailed overview of work carried out and any parts used.

Of course not everyone will have the ability or want to enter Charge and Repair codes into their PAT Tester. For this reason, SimplyPats will allow you to easily enter this information on a per appliance basis or via the bulk replace method.

Entering Charge and Repair Codes manually to each appliance is a simple process, but can be time consuming if you have a lot of appliances. Simply click on an appliance in the main screen and use the drop down menu in the Charge and Repair section to add a Charge and/or Repair Code. You would just repeat this process until you have added Charge and Repair information for every appliance.

If you want to apply the same charge code to multiple appliances or all of the appliances in the current data file, you can use the Bulk Replace feature. To add the Charge Code P (Portable Appliance) to all of the appliances in the current data file, Right Mouse click on any of the appliances on the main screen and choose Select All Records from the menu. You should see that all of the appliances have now been highlighted.

Use the drop down menu next to the Replace Test Price text to select Portable Appliance Test and press ok. Continue to close any open windows until you are back to the main screen, at which point Left Mouse Click on any of the appliances in the list to de-select all records.

Any changes applied to the data in SimplyPats are only saved when you choose to save the file, so File > Save if you want to keep any changes permanent.

Creating a PAT Testing Invoice by Entering a Fixed Price

On the Invoice screen in SimplyPats you will see the option to enter a Fixed Price, simply enter the amount that you want to charge and press the ReCalc button to update the invoice.

Using the Extra Charges feature to create a PAT Testing Invoice

Extra Charges were originally designed to be used in addition to the Charge and Repair codes, and were especially useful for adding charges such as Call Out fees.

The Extra Charges feature by itself can be used to create an Invoice or used with other features to create more complex billing solutions such as First x number of appliances at a certain price, with additional appliances charged at £x.xx

In case you are wondering, the words Extra Charges are not displayed on the Invoice, you have complete control over any text descriptions.

You can add/edit/delete Extra Charge descriptions and prices from the Maintenance > Maintain Extra Charges screen.

Click New to add a new record entry, type in a Description together with a price and press Ok to save and close. Repeat this procedure for any additional Extra Charges that you want made available as an option on the Invoice.

On the Invoice screen you will see a drop down menu titled Extra Charge, use this to apply any Extra Charges that you want to apply to the current invoice.

Example of Extra Charges in Use

In the screen shot of the Extra Charges window above, you will see that we have added the following Extra Charge; Hourly Charge for testing and Inspection of Portable Appliances (the word Appliances is not visible, but it is there) and we have given it a Price of £35.00.

Now load up the data file that you want to create an invoice for and select the Extra Charge that you want to apply to the invoice.

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